150 THE MYTHS OF CREATION: THE GODS
Poseidon (Neptune) and Amphitrite with Their Attendants. Relief from the "Altar of Domi-
tius Ahenobarbus," ca. 100 B.C.; marble, 30V2 X 220 in. The frieze, part of the base of a
monument (not of an altar), shows Poseidon (Neptune) and Amphitrite drawn in their
chariot by sea-serpents: before them Triton blows his conch-shell and another Triton plays
a lyre. To the left a Nereid, riding upon a sea-horse, carries a torch, and a cupid flies off
to the left. This relief should be compared with Poussin's painting of the same scene (see
Color Plate 13). (Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlung: Glyptothek.)power of his ancestry—the only solution allowed by the Fates. Red blood began
to trickle from out the mass that had buried him, and in a short time the red of
the blood began to disappear and it became the color of a stream made turbid
by an early rain, and in a while the water cleared. Then the mass that had been
thrown upon him split open and, through the cleft, a reed, green and slender,
rose up and the hollow opening in the rock resounded with the leaping waves.
Suddenly a wonderful thing happened—up to his waist in the midst of the waves
there stood a youth, the sprouting horns on his brow wreathed with pliant reeds.
Except that he was bigger and his whole face the bluish green of water, this was
Acis indeed turned into a river-god.POSEIDON AND AMPHITRITE
The third Nereid, Amphitrite, is important mainly as the wife of Poseidon;
like her sister Thetis she proved a reluctant bride, but Poseidon finally was
able to win her. As husband and wife they play roles very much like those
enacted by Zeus and Hera; Poseidon has a weakness for women, and Am-
phitrite, with good cause, is angry and vengeful. They had a son, Triton, a
merman, human above the waist, fish-shaped below. He is often depicted
blowing a conch shell, a veritable trumpeter of the sea; he can change shape
at will (see Color Plate 13).PROTEUS
The sea divinity Proteus, probably another of the older generation of gods, is of-
ten named as the attendant of Poseidon or even as his son. Like Nereus, he is
an old man of the sea who can foretell the future; he can also change shape. It
is easy to see how the identities of Nereus, Proteus, and Triton could be merged.
Confusion among sea divinities and duplication of their characteristics are every-
where apparent.^1